Episode 865: Defining the New Golden Age of American Television
David and Sean Ingram take a look back at the new golden age of American television.
New golden age of American television shows discussed include The Sopranos and more!
Battleship Pretension is a movie discussion podcast started in 2007 by Tyler Smith and David Bax. Since then, we’ve done live comedy shows, written reviews, commentaries and more.
Battleship Pretension is a film discussion show and a film review website founded by Tyler Smith and David Bax. Beginning in March 2007, Battleship Pretension the show (known to fans simply as “BP”) embodies the type of laidback, free-flowing conversations had by lovers of film around the world. Battleship Pretension the website is dedicated to being a destination for those seeking worthwhile opinions on current releases, be they foreign, independent, studio pictures, theatrical, home video releases, etc. From its meager beginnings in Los Angeles, Battleship Pretension has amassed a worldwide audience and readership. From Germany to Korea to Australia, people have tuned in to share in Tyler and David’s love of film. As Battleship Pretension’s following continues to grow, the purpose remains the same: Reach out to the international cinephile community, invite them to join in the discussion and perhaps even start one of their own.
no mention of Curb?
I love The Americans and while it’s not a comedy I definitely found humor at times (eg the Clarke/Martha relationship could be wryly funny in an “oh no!” kinda way). But the show never felt dour, I had a blast watching it
I was thinking about Curb. I just never found a way to bring it up. I think it definitely counts, especially as a very different take on the “difficult men” phenomenon of the new golden age.
– David
The fifth season of Game of Thrones is the worst. The later seasons are better not because the writing returned to its earlier quality, but because it leaned into big-budget spectacle, without embarassing action scenes like the attempted kidnapping of Myrcella in Dorne.
Halt & Catch Fire may have been better in its later than earlier seasons, but even at its best it was never that good. Hannibal was a better show, but the third season was so bad it retroactively made the previous seasons worse.
I tried watching the first couple seasons of Better Things because people kept insisting it’s great, but it turned out Atlanta was the true successor to Louie (that I was late to because I wasn’t a fan of Community or anything else Glover has done).
Speaking of “difficult men”, I recall there was a book by that title about the showrunners of the golden age. Mostly the “three Davids” (Chase, Milch, Simon), but Vince Gilligan was also there as an exception: an easy-going guy everybody seems to like. Perhaps fitting for you to consider the golden age to end with his show. I’ve heard others say that golden age had been defined by antihero dramas focusing on difficult men, which transitioned into ensemble shows (with Mad Men shifting during its run away from a focus on antihero Don Draper to the larger cast, and H&CF also imitating MM in that way).